But before we get to his list, I have to address the fact I don't understand the mentality of prefacing a top-ten list of the "best conservatives" by throwing the President and the First Lady under the bus, especially when you do it by judging physical appearance and not with political factoids.

It complements Juliet Nicolson's earlier account, in "The Perfect Summer," of the golden period prefacing the outbreak of hostilities, an interlude of prosperity that only served to throw the horror of the conflict and the social disintegration that followed into sharper relief.